Online gaming platforms enable social interactions between players who may or may not be known to each other. Multiplayer gaming environments often enable players to form teams and therefore foster virtual interaction while they play in the same gaming environment at the same time. Individuals can form partnerships and participate in play against the system via pre-programmed challenges and/or against another team of individuals, thereby allowing for either cooperative or competitive play. Each gameplay session may be played with either the same or a different group of matched players.
Typically, when a player logs into an online multiplayer gaming environment, the player may engage in a gameplay session in which he or she is matched, based on skill, with other players to play together on the same team or as opponents. A given player may engage in multiple gameplay sessions during a login session. In addition, each gameplay session may be played with either the same or a different group of players that are compatible with their individual skill levels. Conventionally, when interested in playing in a group with other players, an individual player may ask other players who are of the same skill level to form a player group. The player may also study profiles of other players and invite them to play together. There are often times when players invite their friends to play together in a game. However, friends may or may not be familiar with the specific game and/or gaming levels within the specific game to which they have been invited. Alternatively, some friends may be familiar with the game but may have different comfort levels and/or levels of proficiency at playing the game. While some players enjoy playing videogames interactively with friends, these differences in skill set, experience or proficiency at a game and/or certain levels within the game may prevent them from playing with the people they would most enjoy playing with.
There is thus a need for a gaming environment that enables players of different skill levels to play together, while still providing players at the various different skill levels the appropriate amount of challenge for their given skill level, thereby avoiding having lower skilled players be overwhelmed or higher skilled players be bored. A gaming environment is needed that enables players within the same team to experience a different degree of difficulty or challenge while participating in the same gameplay session on the same game level.
With respect to team formation or opponent matching itself, different types of matchmaking processes are utilized to connect players for online gaming sessions. Most processes attempt to match based on complimentary gaming skills. Examples of matchmaking elements used may include game profile, player profile, prior match scores, and prior quality scores. Conventionally, when interested in playing in a group with other players, an individual player may ask friends to form a player group, may ask other players who are of the same skill level to form a player group, and/or may otherwise form a group by sending invitations to other players. Some systems may automatically group or match players based solely on a limited number of hard-coded characteristics (e.g., skill level), which are not dynamically adjusted. Such systems may create sets of rigidly segregated pools of players. For example, in some conventional systems, a player who is at a lower skill level may never be matched with a player at a higher skill level, which may result in one dimensional and unsatisfying gameplay. Additionally, prospectively enjoyable gaming partnerships may not be formed between players of different skills due to these pre-defined criteria for matching players. Thus, there is also a need for methods and systems that enable players in a multiplayer gaming environment to play together effectively based on subjective variables, such as a degree of likeability or a fun factor between the players. There is also a need to incorporate stronger social elements in multiplayer games.
Once a team is formed, it would be preferable to encourage and incentivize cooperation among teammates. Such cooperation increases the satisfaction among players and typically results in improved performance. However, conventional gaming environments do not recognize, or quantify, cooperation between team players. Therefore, players are unable to track whether they are taking steps to improve their cooperation and fail to identify, or pay attention to, opportunities to behave cooperatively. Therefore, there is also a need for a gaming environment to recognize team cooperation and encourage cordial team performance through quantified metrics and visual representations thereof.
Some gaming environments allow players to interact with each other, and virtual characters, via social networking platforms. These platforms provide a virtual space to connect with other players with common interests and profiles related to certain gaming environments, are used by the players to discuss their gaming activities and experiences, and often provide a way for players to offer suggestions and feedback that could improve their gaming experiences. Frequently, groups of players, who are connected with each other over a social network and who often play together, have different suggestions and desires for what they wish to see in the gaming environment, and these suggestions and desires may vary greatly between players' various social groups, which have different interests, discussions, suggestions and feedback. While these varied social groups are rich in ideas and content suggestions, conventional gaming systems are unable to efficiently collect and utilize this feedback from each social group to generate different, tailored gaming environments. Therefore, there is also a need for a gaming system and environment that may identify players and/or player groups active over a social network, monitor and track content suggestions made within the social group, and dynamically modify the gaming parameters for that player or group of players within the tracked social group, based on their activities, suggestions, feedback, or other information provided within the social network.